My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
May 31 – June 1, 2023
We had two stops in New Zealand- Aukland and Bay of Islands. I’d been to both places before and was looking to do something new. Charlie, our Security Officer, or in ship language, the SeaCo (actually SecO, but I like SeaCo more) is from New Zealand. I asked him what he recommended, and he said, ‘Well, it depends what you like to do. I would probably take a ferry to Waiheke Island and then go to a couple of wineries that overlook Cable Bay, and for Bay of Islands, I would probably take a ferry to Russel and have lunch at the Duke of Marlborough which is the oldest pub in New Zealand, but that’s only if you like that kind of thing.’ That was exactly the kind of thing that I liked to do.
The ferry terminal in Aukland was right next to where we docked. I talked to my mom on the phone for most of the scenic 40 minute journey to Waiheke Island with the wind in my face. It was a beautiful day. When I arrived I tried to order an uber, and after 10 minutes of waiting to be connected to a driver, I decided to take the 30 minute walk instead. It felt like I was climbing a mountain, since I’d mostly been on a flat ship for months, but they were very manageable hills. I rounded one corner to see the Aukland skyline, which was pretty awesome.
My first stop was at Cable Bay vineyards where I signed up for a tasting.
I took a look at the lunch menu and nothing leapt out at me. I decided to try the next place. As I hiked around another 15 or so minutes to Mudbrick winery, I had to remind myself to enjoy the moment. I was on a mission to have as much adventure and fun (damnit!) as I could fit into my few hours off, that I found that I was rushing more than I was savoring. I sat at the table on top of the mountain and took it all in.
It was so pretty and peaceful. You can barely see it in the picture, but I could see the skyline from where I sat. A bird landed on my table and said hello. Of course the next thing I did was add more things I love to my experience – I ordered a glass of wine. It was too late for the lunch menu, so I ordered a cheese plate and ate the whole thing by myself.
I saw the Senior Doctor there with someone I didn’t know. We said hello, but I was really enjoying being alone, not talking to anyone.
The next day we went to Bay of Islands and this time I had friends! Amy and Andrew both had the day off and they were up for my adventure. Charlie had said that Russell (which I want to call an Island, but is not – it’s a town in Bay of Islands) is really close to where we dock, and the ship should send one water shuttle to Russell and the other water shuttle to wherever it normally goes. But there was no direct water shuttle to Russell. We only had a couple of hours between the time when enough guests had gotten off the ship that they were allowing crew and when we had to be back in line for the water shuttle to go back to the ship. So we crossed our fingers and booked it. We took a water shuttle to another shuttle (Bus) that took us into town, where, after a couple of tries, we found a ferry that would not only get us there with enough time for lunch, but also to get back in time to do the whole thing backwards. We just barely made it. We also picked up one of the guys from the band along the way. Charlie said he was going to try to go during his short break, but we never saw him. Lunch was great. Amy was surprised that it looked more like a plantation mansion than the pubs in London. We had so much fun that we didn’t take any pictures except for this one of Andrew playing on a tree swing while we waited in line for the water shuttles going back.
